. 5-methyl cytosine (5-mC) is a modified nucleotide that is associated with epigentic inheritance. 5-mC is usually found in CpG dinucleotides in eukaryotic DNA, which are common in the promoter region of genes. Changes in the methylation status of a promoter region results in changes in the expression of that gene. Defects in the methylation status have been associated with a wide range of diseases. Common methods for the analysis of 5-mC require thousands of cells. There is a need for methods with improved sensitivity. We propose to develop methylation preserving polymerase chain reaction (mpPCR) as a tool to amplify small amounts of DNA while preserving the methylation status of the starting material. Each cycle of mpPCR consists of four steps. First, a sample is heated to denature the DNA. Second, primers are annealed to the template. Third, DNA polymerase is used to extend the primers, copying the template. This step creates hemi-methylated DNA, where the original strand is methyated and the newly synthesized strand is unmethylated. In the fourth step, the human methyl transferase Dnmt1 is used to convert hemi-methylated DNA to fully methylated DNA. The amount of product increases exponentially with each cycle, and the product may be analyzed using any conventional methylcytosine analysis technology.
Defects in the methylation status of the promoter region of a gene are associated with many diseases, including cancer. Current technologies for methyation analysis require relatively large amounts of sample. We propose to develop a technology that allows analysis of small tissues and single cells.
